Silver Springs woodshop students at Park Avenue Alternative Education Site in Grass Valley are creating and selling recycled woodcraft products for local businesses.

The program, spearheaded by woodshop design teacher Mike Pettengill, focuses on creating and selling products that consumers can use. Pettengill and his students work with local businesses to identify and produce products that the businesses can then sell in their stores. Students participating in the program learn valuable life skills as well as learning to work with wood and tools.

The original grant focused on “At-Risk Youth”- students that have been less than successful in traditional environments. One measure of success is the number of students that graduated from Silver Springs.

The program is made possible as the result of a partnership between Nevada Joint Union High School District, the One-Stop Business & Career Center, and Sierra Commons- a local non-profit supporter of start-up businesses.